Bill Text: NJ S356 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires persons subject to Megan's Law registration to provide law enforcement with any Internet identifiers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-10 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee [S356 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-S356-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires persons subject to Megan's Law registration to provide law enforcement with any Internet identifiers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning Internet identifiers of certain sex offenders, amending P.L.1994, c.133 and supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. A person who is subject to the registration requirements in section 2 of P.L.1994, c.133 (C.2C:7-2) shall provide the appropriate law enforcement agency with any Internet identifiers that person uses or plans to use. Upon a change of Internet identifier or user password, the person shall notify the law enforcement agency with which the person is registered no less than 10 days prior to when the person intends to communicate using the new identifier. A person is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree if that person fails to provide the information required by this subsection, provides false information, or uses any Internet identifier that the person did not provide to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
b. The Division of State Police shall, upon the request of any social networking website operator, release to such entity Internet identifiers submitted pursuant to subsection a. of this section that would enable the operator to prescreen or remove registered sex offenders from its services or, in conformity with State and federal law, advise law enforcement or other appropriate governmental entities of potential violations of law or threats to public safety. Before releasing any Internet identifier information to a social networking website operator that makes such a request, the Division of State Police shall require the operator to submit its name, address and telephone number and the specific legal nature and corporate status of such operator. Except for the purposes specified in this section, a social networking website operator shall not publish or in any way disclose or redisclose any information provided pursuant to this section. The Division of State Police may charge an operator a reasonable fee for access to Internet identifiers requested by such entity pursuant to this section. The Superintendent of State Police shall promulgate rules and regulations relating to procedures for the release of Internet identifiers to social networking website operators, including but not limited to, the disclosure and redisclosure of such information, and the imposition of any fees.
c. As used in this act,
"Internet identifiers" means electronic mail addresses and designations used for the purposes of chat, instant messaging, social networking or other similar Internet communication; and
"Social networking website operator" means any person, business or organization that operates a website which is accessible to third parties and which publishes personal information about any user who is a resident of this State who is under the age of 18.
2. Section 4 of P.L.1994, c.133 (C.2C:7-4) is amended to read as follows:
4. a. Within 60 days of the effective date of this act, the Superintendent of State Police, with the approval of the Attorney General, shall prepare the form of registration statement as required in subsection b. of this section and shall provide such forms to each organized full-time municipal police department, the Department of Corrections, the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Department of Human Services. In addition, the Superintendent of State Police shall make such forms available to the Juvenile Justice Commission established pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1995, c.284 (C.52:17B-170).
b. The form of registration required by this act shall include:
(1) A statement in writing signed by the person required to register acknowledging that the person has been advised of the duty to register and reregister imposed by this act and including the person's name, social security number, age, race, sex, date of birth, height, weight, hair and eye color, address of legal residence, address of any current temporary residence, Internet identifiers as defined in section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill), date and place of employment; and any anticipated or current school enrollment, including but not limited to enrollment at or employment by any institution of higher education;
(2) Date and place of each conviction, adjudication or acquittal by reason of insanity, indictment number, fingerprints, and a brief description of the crime or crimes for which registration is required; and
(3) Any other information that the Attorney General deems necessary to assess risk of future commission of a crime, including criminal and corrections records, nonprivileged personnel, treatment, and abuse registry records, and evidentiary genetic markers when available.
c. Within three days of receipt of a registration pursuant to subsection c. of section 2 of this act, the registering agency shall forward the statement and any other required information to the prosecutor who shall, as soon as practicable, transmit the form of registration to the Superintendent of State Police, and, if the registrant will reside in a different county, to the prosecutor of the county in which the person will reside. The prosecutor of the county in which the person will reside shall transmit the form of registration to the law enforcement agency responsible for the municipality in which the person will reside and other appropriate law enforcement agencies. The superintendent shall promptly transmit the conviction data and fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
d. The Superintendent of State Police shall maintain a central registry of registrations provided pursuant to this act.
(cf: P.L.2003, c.34, s.2)
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month following enactment, provided that the Superintendent of State Police may take such anticipatory actions as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would require any person who is subject to "Megan's Law" registration requirements to provide the appropriate law enforcement agency with any Internet identifiers that the person uses or plans to use. The bill also requires that person, upon a change of Internet identifier or user password, to notify the law enforcement agency no less than 10 days prior to when the person intends to communicate using the new identifier.
This bill makes it a crime of the fourth degree if that person fails to provide the information required by this subsection, provides false information, or uses any Internet identifier that the person did not provide to the appropriate law enforcement agency. "Internet identifiers" are defined as electronic mail addresses and designations used for the purposes of chat, instant messaging, social networking or other similar Internet communication.
The bill requires the Division of State Police, upon the request of any social networking website operator, to release any Internet identifiers submitted pursuant to the bill which would enable the operator to prescreen or remove registered sex offenders from its services or advise law enforcement or other appropriate governmental entities of potential violations of law or threats to public safety. Before releasing such information, the division shall require the operator to submit its name, address and telephone number and the specific legal nature and corporate status of such operator. The bill defines a "social networking website operator" as any person, business or organization that operates a website which is accessible to third parties and which publishes personal information about any user who is a resident of this State who is under the age of 18.
The bill prohibits a social networking website operator from publishing or in any way disclosing any information provided pursuant to this bill. Under the bill, the division can charge an operator a reasonable fee for access to Internet identifiers.
The bill requires the Superintendent of State Police to promulgate rules and regulations relating to procedures for the release of Internet identifiers to social networking website operators, including but not limited to, the disclosure and redisclosure of such information, and the imposition of any fees.
The bill amends N.J.S.A.2C:7-4, which sets forth registration requirements for Megan's Law offenders, to include "Internet identifiers."
This bill is part of the Attorney General's initiative concerning Internet safety.
